When it comes to the topic of globalization, political leaders could not be more divided. Former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, stated that “Our future is not in competing at the low-level wage job; it is in creating high-wage, new technology jobs based on our skills and our productivity.” Others, such as Nelson Mandela, have said that globalization only serves the wealthy “to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker,” and that we thus, “have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.” Even former US President Jimmy Carter decried the inequality associated with the trend. “If you're totally illiterate and living on one dollar a day, the benefits of globalization never come to you,” he states.

Increased globalization has implications for every aspect of humanity. This accelerated spread of people, their money, and their ideas affects not just how we view our world, but also what constitutes “our world.” Skeptics will typically point to the threat it poses to cultural diversity, the environment, and the poor. And proponents will usually list the opportunities that it creates for economic development.

This quarter at The Review, we chose to freely and loosely explore globalization through the lenses of the many issues and ideas associated with it –– namely those of immigration, identity, the spread of information, and human rights.

In a city as “global” and globalized as New York, these discussions prove crucial, as Robbi Sy shows us in his investigation on the lives of Overseas Filipino Workers in Woodside. In this piece, Sy travels to Queens’ “Little Manila” and interviews three human trafficking survivors. These women share their powerful stories of family and isolation, leaving us to reckon with the dark implications of globalization gone wrong.